All Posts by Alex Dobie

HTC Camera is the Taiwanese company's latest app to move to Google Play, becoming easier to update on Sense 6 devices without requiring a firmware upgrade. The app's release notes state that it brings the HTC EYE Experience to supported devices, however the features you're able to use will depend on which specific phone you own.

Samsung's official kit for the Note 4 gives you a spare battery, protective case and external charger
All told, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has pretty good battery life. In our review we found that Samsung's latest could get us through into the night on all but the busiest of days. However, having a removable battery gives Note 4 owners the option to swap in a second cell in busier times....

LG surprised Android enthusiasts today by announcing that it intends to begin updating the its flagship G3 to Android 5.0 Lollipop starting next week. The update will be available in Poland first, before rolling out to other territories. And hot on the heels of the announcement, a couple of leaked builds have begun doing the rounds online, giving us an early look at what to expect from Lollipop...

While the Nexus 9 tablet is now on sale in the UK, there's so far been no sign of its smaller cousin, the Nexus 6 smartphone on British shores. Today Google has broken the silence with official Play Store listings for the N6, priced at £499 for the 32GB model and £549 for the roomier 64GB option.

Back at IFA 2014, HTC unveiled the Desire 820, the latest device to lead its lineup of mid-range handsets. Like its predecessor, the Desire 816, the 820 is built around a 5.5-inch 720p display, however the design's been tightened up with a slimmer profile and new color accents. And the internals have been substantially upgraded too — there's a 64-bit-capable octa-core Snapdragon 615 chip...

Prices start at $649, shipping in 3-4 weeks
As promised, Google and Motorola's Nexus 6 is now available to pre-order on the Google Play Store in the U.S. Prices start at $649 for the 32GB version in white or blue, rising to $699 for the 64GB version. That'll get you the first smartphone designed for the new Android 5.0 Lollipop, with an enormous 6-inch QHD display and a Snapdragon 805...

The LG G Watch R is upon us, and LG's first round smartwatch is gradually becoming available around the world. It's a dramatic departure from the original G Watch, with a circular stainless steel body and a bold new design, not to mention a brighter P-OLED display. We've already put the G Watch R through its paces in our full review, but if you want a quick overview of everything that's going...

LG's second Android watch is a step forward, but not a game-changer
Smartwatches have been *a thing* for quite some time now. Nevertheless, it's a product category still struggling to find its feet, not to mention a compelling reason for normal people — those who live outside the tech bubble — to buy in. In the case of Android Wear, the software's still pretty basic, and the early hardware has...

Leaked firmware reveals new Gmail, Calendar and Messenger apps, along with a few surprises ...
The most recent Android 5.0 developer preview gave is a pretty good idea of what to expect from Lollipop when it officially launches. But not every feature from the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 can be found in the current developer build, and what's more the updated Material Design Google apps are also MIA....

On my wrist today is the LG G Watch R, LG's second-generation Android Wear smartwatch sporting a more traditional timepiece design with a rounded face. We got a pretty good look at the G Watch R back at IFA 2014 in Berlin, but this is our first chance to use it out in the wild ahead of the global launch.
If you've been following Android Wear over the past few months, chances are you've got...

With each new version of Android comes a new "Easter egg" animation hidden away in the Settings app. In KitKat it was the dessert tray animation. In the Android L preview it was a reference to the obscure "webdriver torso" YouTube mystery. For the latest version of Lollipop (or at least as we see it in the latest October developer preview) Google's taken things a step further. There's a fully-...

As promised, Google has just published an updated set of preview images for Android 5.0 Lollipop on the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2013). The new developer preview is based on build lpx13d.
The first "Android L" developer preview arrived shortly after Google I/O, and was updated in early August with Google Fit support (and little else). It's unclear how much new stuff is in these latest preview...

Following Lollipop's unveiling earlier this week, Google has today taken the wraps off the Android 5.0 SDK, allowing developers to start getting apps ready for the final version of the upcoming OS. Lollipop is a huge release for developers, with more than 5000 new APIs, the new Material Design visual style and new power-saving and enterprise features to get to grips with. And while the first...

Sony Mobile has announced the first stage of its Android 5.0 Lollipop upgrade plans, with a promise to bring the newly-announced OS version to the "entire Xperia Z series." That includes the following devices...

A new era of Android brings a new strategy for Nexus devices
The announcement of Android 5.0 Lollipop brings us into a new age of Android, with a new design language, important new APIs for developers, and even new categories of device. It's been known for some time what this new Android era — the third, by our calculations — will entail for the platform itself, but it was only yesterday we...

But Nexus 9 tablet owners will have to charge the old-fashioned way
Wireless charging isn't mentioned in the official Nexus 6 spec sheet on Google.com, but apparently that's just another launch-day oversight. A separate, more complete spec sheet distributed by Google to press reveals that wireless charging is indeed supported and built-in, just like the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. The Qi charging...

The humble Nexus 4 wasn't mentioned in the first draft of Nexus devices getting Android 5.0 Lollipop, but owners of the two-year-old LG handset needn't fear. According to Googler Sascha Prüter, the omission was an error, and sure enough the post has now been updated to reflect that change.
The line in question now reads:

The Motorola Nexus 6, one of the first Android 5.0 Lollipop is official. The short version is we've got a 6-inch, Snapdragon 805-powered handset with a whopping QHD display resolution and an all-new version of Google's mobile OS. No firm dates yet on when we'll be able to get it, but we do at least know that Google will sell it from the Play Store starting at $649.
We've got the long version...

Alongside today's Lollipop announcement, Google took the wraps off the first Android TV set-top box. Made by ASUS and powered by an Intel CPU, the Nexus Player is shaped like an oversized hockey puck, and comes with a voice control-enabled remote. A Nexus game controller for the device will be sold separately too, and Google describes the Nexus Player as a "first of its kind" Android gaming...

Moto X, Moto G, Moto E and 2013 Droids among devices getting Lollipop
Alongside the new Nexus 6, Motorola has revealed the first information on its plans to update its existing devices to the new Android 5.0 Lollipop.
In a blog post, Moto confirms that the following devices are in line for an Android 5.0 update —

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